AMN /
Bangladesh, Supreme court has upheld the death sentence of top Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali for what it called ‘crimes against humanity’ during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Divison headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha delivered the verdict this morning. International Crimes Tribunal had sentenced 63-year old Mir Quasem Ali, considered the financial backbone of the Jamaat-e-Islami, to death on November 2, 2014.
The tribunal had ordered capital punishment on 2 charges of murder unarmed freedom fighters, and a total of 72 years in prison on eight other war crime charges including arson, looting, torture, and illegal confinement.
Upholding the capital punishment, the apex court said under his command of the Al-Badr in Chittagong, local collaborators of the Pakistani army let loose terror on the Bengali freedom fighters. This is the 7th war crimes case to be resolved by the apex court.
The International Crimes Tribunals were set up by the Sheikh Hasina government in 2010, nearly 40 years after the Liberation War. According to official estimates, the war left around 3 million dead, 2 lakh women raped and rendered another 10 million refugees on Indian soil. Since 2013, 4 war criminals have been executed in Bangladesh.
Attorney General Mahbubhey Alam has expressed satisfaction at the verdict saying justice has been done to lakhs of war matryrs. Freedom fighters, activists of the Ganajagran Manch who led the Shahbhag movement for maximum punishment of war criminals had victory processions in the capital. Security has been tightened at all sensitive points in the capital Chittagong to avoid any untoward events.